Information
Composer: Leopold Godowsky
Marc-André Hamelin, piano
Date: 2002
Label: Hyperion
https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA67300
- (01-05) Piano Sonata in E minor
- (06) Passacaglia (44 variations, cadenza and fugue on the opening of Schubert's 'Unfinished' Symphony)
Marc-André Hamelin, piano
Date: 2002
Label: Hyperion
https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA67300
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ARTISTIC QUALITY: 10 / SOUND QUALITY: 10
Leopold Godowsky’s 1927 Passacaglia subjects the opening measures of Schubert’s “Unfinished” Symphony to 44 variations, a cadenza, and a huge fugue. There’s nothing remotely Schubertian about Godowsky’s multi-layered textures though, and the clever harmonic sleights-of-hand tend to lose their tickle as the music grows increasingly self-important. Neverthtless Marc-André Hamelin takes this work seriously and makes its case with more sophisticated virtuosity and musical cogency than anyone else on disc, including his younger self on a 1988 recording for the obscure Canadian label Musica Viva. Indeed, Hamelin’s interpretation has matured with age. His riper approach to the composer’s frequent molto espressivo indications imbues slithering chromatic passages with greater melodic distinction and shape. The pianist’s intensified rhythmic give and take between each variation also maintains cumulative tension to a higher degree than Carlo Granté’s relatively foursquare yet still impressive effort on Altarus.
As for Godowsky’s mammoth, five-movement Piano Sonata, my comments on this rarely-played work can be found by typing Q4018 in Search Reviews. Suffice it to say that Hamelin’s extraordinary pianism often surpasses Konstantin Scherbakov’s commendable virtuosity. Hamelin’s fleeter central movement, for instance, is lighter and suppler on all counts, and he lets it rip at the climax with no compromise in tempo. Ditto the first-movement development’s knotty passage work and the laughing double notes in the Schlag-tinged Allegretto grazioso. In general Hamelin concerns himself more with the music’s paragraphic flow, whereas Scherbakov is prone to linger over local details while indulging in sudden dynamic surges and hard-hitting accents.
One telling case in point concerns the last movement’s fugue. Hamelin treats the music in a headlong fashion while Scherbakov opts for steady introspection in a manner that foreshadows some of Shostakovich’s more discursive fugues. Sonically speaking, however, Hyperion scores by providing Hamelin with a superior instrument and state-of-the-art engineering. In addition to excellent notes by Godowsky biographer Jeremy Nicholas, Hamelin offers his own interesting, well-considered insights into the Sonata’s inner workings. A release, in sum, that no Godowsky lover can pass up.
-- Jed Distler, ClassicsToday
More reviews:
BBC Music Magazine PERFORMANCE: ***** / SOUND: ****
http://www.classicalsource.com/db_control/db_cd_review.php?id=584
https://www.amazon.com/Godowsky-Sonata-Passacaglia-Leopold/dp/B00005UO88
Leopold Godowsky’s 1927 Passacaglia subjects the opening measures of Schubert’s “Unfinished” Symphony to 44 variations, a cadenza, and a huge fugue. There’s nothing remotely Schubertian about Godowsky’s multi-layered textures though, and the clever harmonic sleights-of-hand tend to lose their tickle as the music grows increasingly self-important. Neverthtless Marc-André Hamelin takes this work seriously and makes its case with more sophisticated virtuosity and musical cogency than anyone else on disc, including his younger self on a 1988 recording for the obscure Canadian label Musica Viva. Indeed, Hamelin’s interpretation has matured with age. His riper approach to the composer’s frequent molto espressivo indications imbues slithering chromatic passages with greater melodic distinction and shape. The pianist’s intensified rhythmic give and take between each variation also maintains cumulative tension to a higher degree than Carlo Granté’s relatively foursquare yet still impressive effort on Altarus.
As for Godowsky’s mammoth, five-movement Piano Sonata, my comments on this rarely-played work can be found by typing Q4018 in Search Reviews. Suffice it to say that Hamelin’s extraordinary pianism often surpasses Konstantin Scherbakov’s commendable virtuosity. Hamelin’s fleeter central movement, for instance, is lighter and suppler on all counts, and he lets it rip at the climax with no compromise in tempo. Ditto the first-movement development’s knotty passage work and the laughing double notes in the Schlag-tinged Allegretto grazioso. In general Hamelin concerns himself more with the music’s paragraphic flow, whereas Scherbakov is prone to linger over local details while indulging in sudden dynamic surges and hard-hitting accents.
One telling case in point concerns the last movement’s fugue. Hamelin treats the music in a headlong fashion while Scherbakov opts for steady introspection in a manner that foreshadows some of Shostakovich’s more discursive fugues. Sonically speaking, however, Hyperion scores by providing Hamelin with a superior instrument and state-of-the-art engineering. In addition to excellent notes by Godowsky biographer Jeremy Nicholas, Hamelin offers his own interesting, well-considered insights into the Sonata’s inner workings. A release, in sum, that no Godowsky lover can pass up.
-- Jed Distler, ClassicsToday
More reviews:
BBC Music Magazine PERFORMANCE: ***** / SOUND: ****
http://www.classicalsource.com/db_control/db_cd_review.php?id=584
https://www.amazon.com/Godowsky-Sonata-Passacaglia-Leopold/dp/B00005UO88
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_Godowsky
***
Marc-André Hamelin (born September 5, 1961 in Montreal, Quebec) is a Canadian virtuoso pianist and composer. Hamelin is recognized worldwide for the originality and technical brilliance of his performances of the classic repertoire. He has made recordings of a wide variety of composers with the Hyperion label. He is well known for his attention to lesser-known composers especially of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century and for performing works by pianist-composers. Hamelin has also composed several works, including a set of piano études in all of the minor keys.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc-Andr%C3%A9_Hamelin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc-Andr%C3%A9_Hamelin
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